


Admiration (Kíli x Ameria)

by Harulainen



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Fanfiction, Fantasy, Kíli Is a Little Shit, Middle Earth, My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic, Original Character(s), Pre-Canon, Pre-The Hobbit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 01:00:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30097863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harulainen/pseuds/Harulainen
Summary: Being the outcast of the city, Ameria was used  to being alone until she accidentally stumbles upon the dwarf brothers Kíli and Fíli which ends up in a victorious wrestling match for her.Kíli however isn’t gonna accept that and decides to beg her to train with him but will it end here or are they destined to bring chaos to literally everywhere they go?(If you want check my art instagram out to see more of my characters @Harulainen)
Relationships: Kíli (Tolkien)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

The wilderness felt calm, as in something comforting was lingering above it. The river was filled with cool water and the animals seemed to be at peace, minding their business. Ameria only could sit there in awe, breathing in the clean air and closely absorbing the forest life.  
The nature around Ered Luin felt more like home to her than Blue Mountains truth to be told.  
Of course the reason for that might have been her abnormal appearance along the dwarves since she was, in fact, a half-elf.  
Sure the dwarves were already used to her but she still got rude comments from time to time like, "You don't belong here," or the classic, "You're a spy from elves just like your mother."  
Sighing Ameria flicked her black hair away from her face, she shouldn't think something like that when she was at the place like this.  
Her fingers were itching towards her trustworthy dagger her father gave her as a gift. It was covered in beautiful carvings and details such as her name on top of it.  
Humming a bit she finally got up from the ground and took the dagger swiftly into her hand, twirling it around it with an ease, as if the weapon had been especially made just for her hand and only for her.  
Ameria jogged to her favorite training spot and looked around, making sure nobody was here to disturb her peace.  
Then finally she took the training dummy behind the bushes and carefully put it in the middle of the pit, admiring the handywork before letting out a frustrated grunt and attacking it without a second thought.

...

Ameria was breathing heavily, sweating like crazy and honestly looked like she just crawled up from the lowest pit of hell. She smiled proudly as she watched the beaten down training dummy, making a mental note to ask her father to make a new one for her.  
She wiped some sweat off from her forehead and put the now destroyed training dummy back to the bushes, hiding it carefully.  
Looking up she saw that sun was setting down already, creating a beautiful mixture of warm colors in the horizon.  
The nature really never failed to amaze her with the details. It was like an ongoing light show.  
Ameria's eyes widened for a second, admiring the comforting orange glow, quietly wishing that the sky would stay like that forever.  
Her wish was however short lifted as she began to hear loud sounds of footsteps and a banter between people.  
Panicking she quickly hid behind the bushes, deciding to play it safe and not get seen by the loud strangers.  
Hearing the steps get closer, Ameria felt her heart to drop for a hot second as she tried to stay quiet, listening the conversation between the people.  
"Are you sure we're not lost?" The first voice spoke up, clearly unamused.  
"Don't you trust me? I know these parts of the woods like the back of my hand," the other voice piped in, confident weight in his voice, until of course a loud thud was heard as the male seemingly fell down.  
"You're not making me very confident here brother," the other one sighed as a fit of chuckles surrounded the air between them.  
Ameria snorted at the banter, immediately cursing herself for not being quiet like she was supposed to.  
Luckily for her though, it seemed like the strangers didn't hear her so she sighed in relief, deciding that the best thing to do was to sneak away as quickly as she could.  
Carefully Ameria made her way away from the pit, trying to make sure that she wouldn't make the bushes move too much, only to feel her heart drop as a sound of stick breaking echoed around the area.  
'Oh Mahal,' she screamed inside her mind, holding her breath as she waited for a disaster to happen.  
"Did you hear that?"  
"Someone's here with us."  
"Let's find them!"  
The footsteps got more rushed as they were searching for Ameria.  
She listened the sounds for a moment, her anxiety growing every passing second. She was sure that she had made her last mistake as the footsteps got closer.  
And then she bolted.

....

Ameria pushed through the leaves and bushes with no hesitation, letting her legs carry her quickly through the forest as the branches hit her face and her quick heartbeat rang in her ears.  
"Don't let them get away!" A loud yell was heard behind her and she quickened her pace even if she felt like her muscles were gonna rip off.  
She made a quick turn to the left, barely dodging a branch as she frightfully tried to get back to running just to feel a pair of strong arms around her before she was tackled into the ground with so much force that she was sure that the person just killed her.  
"You aren't getting away that easily!" The person yelled, proud of himself as he was pressing Ameria's face into the ground so she couldn't see who the speaker was.  
Desperately panicking she reached to the person's free wrist and started to twist it as hard as she could, causing him to let go of her head as a reflex and that's when she striked, causing a wrestling match between her and the stranger as they both struggled to get on the winning position.  
Soon enough Ameria got a stronger hold and got on top of him, making sure that the person couldn't hurt her anymore.  
A loud sigh behind them broke the moment and Ameria's head whipped around just to see a familiar, disappointed but yet amused, face of Fíli son of Dís and Thorin's nephew.  
They didn't know each other personally but obviously everybody knew who he and his brother Kíli were. And speaking of Kíli, she knew that the brothers were inseparable so how come the younger one wasn't anywhere to be seen?  
A rather ugly realizion hit Ameria in the face as she quickly turned to look at the "stranger" under her, just to be greeted by an annoyed looking Kíli.  
The pair stared at each other for a long time, as if they were trying to study each other but then Kíli looked away from her, turning his attention to Fíli.  
"Why didn't you help me?" He barked at his brother who was trying to hide his utter amusement of the situation.  
"I just wanted to see how long it will take for you to realize that she's actually our candlemaker," Fíli wheezed as the pair finally stood up from the ground.  
"This isn't as amusing as you make it sound like," Ameria muttered as she tried to pick the dirt off of her hair, "And what was that unnecessary violence for?" She continued, turning her attention to now standing Kíli.  
"I could ask you the same candlemaker," he raised his eyebrows and looked at the half-elf with curious eyes and a playful grin, "I guess uncle was right when he said that where's trouble, you'll always find an elf."  
"Says the one who hits like an elf," Ameria quickly shot back at him, earning few snickers from Fíli and amused look from Kíli.  
"Anyways i'm Ameria. Daughter of Rorlum, Pleasure to meet you both."  
Fíli walked closer to the pair with a cheeky grin, "It's our pleasure to meet you Miss Ameria," he started but the younger one interrupted him, clearly wanting to talk to her more, "But what business could a humble candlemaker like yourself have in the middle of the woods?"  
Ameria gulped, not wanting to reveal the real reason for being outside so she casually just brushed the question off as if Kíli never even asked about it.  
"I'm just heading back to the hall," she explained, trying to ignore Kíli who was still staring at her, waiting for her to reveal her secrets.  
"Be wary, the wolves are rather active around these parts of the woods and you wouldn't want to get caught alone," Fíli warned as Kíli nodded next to him as in to reassure that the older brother was indeed telling the truth.  
"Of course. Thank you for the warning," Ameria rolled her eyes a bit but smiled warmly at them and turned around, ready to leave but Kíli stopped her, grabbing her hand.  
"Seriously be careful. I saw that eye roll just now," he spoke with a serious tone in his voice.  
"Fine if i must. I wouldn't want to make you worry about a tree-miner like me," Ameria chuckled as the dwarf tried to come up with a good comeback.  
She softly took his arm away from hers and smiled, reassuring that she was, in fact, not gonna get eaten by the wolves.  
Kíli let out a relieved breath and grinned as Ameria bowed to them subtly before quickly leaving the scene for good.

.....

Kíli watched as the half-elf hurriedly disappeared from his view and before he could do anything else, a bubbly laughter filled the air.  
"I can't believe that you got your ass handed to you by her! A half-elf, the loner," Fíli roared, trying to breath normally but failing horribly at it, as he slapped Kíli’s back again and again.  
"Shut it! It's not my fault that she's strong as a horse," The dwarf barked back, red from pure embarrasment.  
"Maybe you should focus a little more to the training than that charming life of yours," The older dwarf snorted and started to head back to the hall as well, "I'm just curious how she pinned you down like that, it was rather impressive," he continued but this time, mostly talking to himself.  
Kíli shook his head in denial as he jogged next to his brother, hitting him on the shoulder.  
"I let her win," he scoffed as Fíli rolled his eyes at him.  
"Sure you did Kíli," was all he said in response before a comforting silence fell over them which made Kíli think about the fight.  
He did have to admit that Ameria pinned him down quite easily and that was absolutely, without any doubt, unacceptable.  
"I'm going to ask her to train with me," he suddenly blurted out, swearing that this was the first and the last time she would ever win against him.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ameria, are you gonna train with me today?!" A loud yell of Kíli echoed through the halls, spooking the target of the scream.  
"Holy giants-!" she yelped and turned to look at her disturber so fast that she cracked her neck, quite painfully, causing her to drop a curse or two in response.  
"Ah i knew you would be glad to see me," the dwarf exclaimed as he caught up to annoyed Ameria.  
"Define glad," she groaned and rolled her eyes at the grinning male who was now standing right infront of her, waiting for the half-elf to finish her muttering.  
"Aw come on. We both know you like my company," he cooed but soon changed his expression, "Is your neck okay? The whole hall just heard the crack," he continued, trying to keep a straight face but failing to hide the obvious gleeful smile.  
"Too much teasing might make you lose a leg, prince," Ameria replied as a smile danced on her face, creating dimples on her cheeks.  
Kíli stared at them for a moment, a smile appearing on his face too as he opened his mouth to speak again.  
"As if you could make that happen."  
Ameria felt the challenge coming from him as he smiled at her confidently, not breaking the eye contact.  
His stare was burning into her and she couldn't help but look away so she wouldn't turn red from the attention.  
"I know this is just a scheme to get me train with you Kíli," she mumbled, still refusing to face him.  
"Is it working?" He moved to stand where Ameria was looking, not letting her ignore him even in the slightest.  
'It is.' She thought but refused to answer his question, only moving her head further from the attention wanting dwarf.  
And so as Ameria moved away, Kíli moved back to her field of view.  
Some dwarves were walking past them behind Kili, noticing the unusual pair and they looked at each other curiously but they left quickly as Ameria saw them, not wanting to be confronted by the outcast.  
"So what do you say? Can we train?" Kíli asked once again, an obvious grin on his face as he watched the half-elf, patiently waiting for her answer.  
"No."

....

"The prince is here again," an amused chuckle left from Ameria's father as he watched out of the window, seeing the familiar dwarf standing infront of their yard.  
"Just ignore him," Ameria shouted from her room, fed up with the needy prince.  
This has been going on for 2 long weeks now and Ameria was, quite frankly, getting tired of his constant begging.  
At first she didn't mind but then he started showing up to her work and scaring her, probably on purpose, which made her drop the candles she was working on.  
"If you say so," her father yelled back, shrugging the whole situation off as quickly as he became interested in it.  
Ameria just sighed in response and walked to the window herself to make sure what her father said was indeed true.  
Feeling bad for making the prince himself wait, she opened the door, capturing Kíli's attention and his expression changed into a wide grin.  
"Good to know that you're not trying to scare me this time," Ameria started, a playful smirk on her face as she walked closer to him.  
"I have no idea what you're talking about my lady," he snickered, knowing damn well what she was talking about but choosing to play dumb as the half-elf rolled her eyes.  
"Let me guess you're here to ask me to train again?" She questioned, already knowing the answer but still wanting to strike up a conversation with the dwarf.  
"You know it," he just hummed in response, seemingly in a good mood again.  
How did he always made it seem like they were living in the middle of paradise? Ameria didn't really understand that part of him but truth to be told, she felt really comfortable around him.  
Shaking the thoughts off Ameria let out a frustrated sigh and turned to look at the peace disturber.  
"Before i answer....why don't you train with your brother?"  
Kíli shrugged and looked at the ground for a second, seemingly finding the rocks more interesting than her.  
"Fíli's busy," he simply answered, looking kinda uncomfortable but Ameria shrugged it off, not mentioning anything about it anymore but instead shaked her head with a smile.  
"Fine i will train with you. But after that you'll leave me be okay?"  
Kíli looked like an excited puppy as he heard the answer and began to cheer loudly, probably waking up the whole Thorin's hall.  
"Yes! It's a promise!!" He yelled, already ready to start training, practically jumping up and down.  
"I regret this already," she whispered but loud enough for Kíli to hear and he turned to look at her with a grin.  
"Bah! You could be crapping rocks," he scoffed as he leaned forward, making it obvious that he wasn't gonna back out.  
"This feels like a troll's gift," she fired back, leaning closer to him as well, not wanting to be the cowardly one.  
She felt Kíli’s breath on her face as they stared at each other, either one not wanting to lose.  
His eyes were beautiful deep brown, like a solid oak or the autumn leaves. They reminded her of every tree in the forest when the sunset was lingering above them.  
He smirked, noticing her stunned expression but soon realized how close they actually were to each other, causing his cheeks to get warm.  
"Don't stare at me like that," he muttered, admitting his defeat as he looked away from the girl.  
"Like what" she snickered at the now blushing Kíli as he tried his best to play it cool.  
"Forget it, must have been my imagination," he breathed out before collecting himself again and continuing, "Are we gonna start training immediately?"  
Ameria raised her eyebrows at him and then looked down at her dress.  
"Do i look like i can train right now?"  
Kíli looked at her up and down, not being able to hide an awkward smile on his face.  
"Good point," was all he managed to spit out as he crossed his arms, thinking of a new plan but  
Ameria shook her head and sighed, "I actually have some errands to do right now so we can think about this later,"  
"Oh...! Can i keep you company? I don't have anything better to do so...." Kíli answered, curiosity practically shining through him.  
"Be my quest," Ameria simply said, not looking at the excited dwarf but still smiling to herself.

.....

Curious eyes were lingering above the pair as Ameria was hunting for the ingredients for the dinner, Kíli right beside her, babbling on and on about his past days as she listened every word, carefully taking a mental note on everything.  
The halls were big and hollow, almost haunting but the lively chatter of the dwarves and uplifting music from the band made them feel more inviting.  
Ameria noticed a familiar trader on the same spot as he always was and a small smile appeared on her face as she made a quick turn to go greet him, leaving Kíli confused.  
"Good to see you're still alive n' kicking lass," the trader greeted the taller half-elf with a warm smile as Ameria waved her hand to him.  
"You can't get rid of me that easily," Ameria grinned back and started to go through her basket.  
"Didn't know you were familiar with the prince, lass," he mumbled as they traded the items while Kíli were watching from the sidelines, curious to see what she got.  
Ameria shaked her head a bit and thanked the trader for the supplies, "I'm just helping him with something."  
The trader just nodded his head, an understanding smile on his face as they said goodbye.  
"What did ya get?" The dwarf questioned immediately as Ameria came back to where he waited, his eyes pretty much glued to the basket.  
"Just ingredients for honey cake," Ameria responded, smiling happily as she was thinking the sweet taste of the cake already.  
"You can bake?" He hopped to the other side of her, excitedly waiting for the response but instead just getting a flick on his forehead and a small laugh.  
"What do you think genius? I'm done now but....thank you for the company," Ameria blurted out but immediately regained her composure, "Come to see me tomorrow so we can start the training okay?"  
Kíli, still massaging his forehead, nodded and thought for a moment before opening his mouth to speak, "Not in the morning right?"  
"Not in the morning." Was all that Ameria answered before turning and leaving Kíli grinning all the way to his ears, already excited about tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you absolutely sure we can use the training hall?" Ameria mumbled as she walked beside Kíli, still worried that the dwarf might have been lying to her when he excitedly ran into her earlier in the morning, practically jumping up and down as he said they can use the official training hall.  
"Don't you trust me?" He hummed in response as he stepped forward more lightly, trying to avoid making the floors squeak.  
"I'm convinced you're gonna feed me to the giants truth to be told," she snickered as he stopped dead in his tracks, looking at the half-elf with an offended expression before he shrugged and kept going again.  
"I mean you're not wrong," Kíli said dismissively, as if he just didn't threathen Ameria with a good time.  
"Well don't i just feel appreciated now," she chuckled as she adjusted her clothes again.  
She isn't the one to get nervous by nothing but right now she felt a strong urge to escape.  
Afterall she was going to train with the prince himself and she didn't want to make a fool out of herself infront of him.  
"Really now? I thought it was the opposite," He mockingly laughed, nudging her side with his elbow, letting his eyes linger on her too long for her comfort.  
"Don't mine a volcano," she rolled her eyes and hopped next to the dwarf, this time getting more close to him.  
Kíli noticed this, smiling to himself as he pretended not to see the girls obvious closeness.

.....

The doors of the training halls were heavy and polished, not natural light shining to them but they still looked like they were glowing.  
Truth to be told Ameria has never been here before since it was strictly meant for the warriors so she was, infact, excited as hell to finally be able to even stand infront of it.  
"Are you ready or are just gonna keep shaking infront of the doors the whole time?" Kíli turned around to face her as he was already the other side of the door, looking at the girl weirdly.  
"It's just...i have never been here before," she mumbled before rushing next to him again, as if she was seeking safety from the new surroundings, not wanting to be left alone.  
"Don't worry my lady i'll keep you safe," he cooed, coming closer to Ameria as he tried to wrap his arm around her shoulder.  
"Touch me and i'll make you fly those stairs down, prince," she scoffed, flinching away from the dwarf, clearly getting uneasy as they were walking down a long and dark staircase.   
The only lights visible here were the shimmer light of candles which gave a little, much to nothing, comfort.   
It created a haunting atmosphere to the spot, definitely not making Ameria any more excited to be in here.  
"Scared? I heard this staircase is haunted you know. It has all the spirits of fallen soldiers," Kíli whispered, making a 'boo' noises as his fingers creeped towards her shoulders, "and you can almost feel their touch on your skin when you-"  
"What are you doing here?"  
"It's the ghosts!!!!" Ameria screamed like she was about to get cold-bloodedly murdered as she felt that her leg slipped from the stair, loosing her footing from the sheer panic just to be saved by an older, incredibly annoyed, looking dwarf.  
She blinked for a second, watching her savior with widened eyes, as if to make sure that he was indeed real.  
The older dwarf grumbled and pushed Ameria back to the safe spot as he looked at Kíli frustrated.  
"Sorry Dwalin, i think i forgot to tell you that i'm gonna train here with her today," Kíli laughed awkwardly, fiddling his fingers as Dwalin's stare was burning a man-sized hole into him.  
He just sighed in response, massaging his nose bridge before turning towards Ameria again, as she tapped his shoulder.  
"Thank you for catching me," she bowed towards him, feeling her legs still shaking from the scare.  
Dwalin just grunted an answer, not even bothering to try to form an actual sentence for her before he continued his way, leaving the pair standing in the middle of the stairs, confused and relieved.  
"So that was Dwalin," Kíli started, smiling a bit as he tried to hold in his chuckles.  
Ignoring the small chuckles from him, Ameria turned to look at the direction where the dwarf went and hummed a bit,  
"He seems strong."  
Kíli’s ears perked up and he wiggled his eyebrows at her, "You ain't getting interested in good old Dwalin right?"   
"At least he would win against me in a fight," she striked back, wiggling her eyebrows back at him as well before bursting out of laughter, Kíli watching her with an amused look on his face.  
"You're mocking me aren't you," he cooed, joining into the laughter with the girl as he shaked his head a bit.  
"You already know my answer, prince," Ameria replied, as she flicked her hair away from her face to appear more confident than she actually was, "Let's go already i'm getting restless in here."

.......

Kíli ran around the training hall like an excited puppy, as Ameria was standing in the middle of it, her jaw practically on the floor.  
The hall was enormous and the walls were covered in crystal like ice, but for some reason they didn't feel cold at all. They reflected the lights making the area more luminous than Ameria first thought it would be.  
And then she noticed the lights here looked blue, creating an almost mystic atmosphere which at the same time, was comforting.  
She turned to look at Kíli who was already dragging four training dummies to the pit, struggling to manage them as he was bragging how strong he is at the same time.  
Ameria deadpanned, going to help the dwarf quickly just to be shooed off like a peasant.  
"No no! Get the weapons i got this," he huffed as he stubbornly continued to drag the dummies, despite of the obvious overloading.  
"Fine whatever, break a leg or two for all i care," Ameria mumbled back, turning her back at him and getting the weapons as he 'requested'.  
She looked through the different spare weapons, her eyes landing on the beautiful silver axe under the swords, shining like it was brand new.  
Ameria swiftly looked back at the dwarf, seeing that he was placing the dummies carefully one by one, seemingly proud of himself for the good job.   
Seeing this as an opportunity she grabbed a bunch of the equipments, hiding the axe under them as in to have dips on it.  
"So first we train on the dummies...and then we can start to duel," he mumbled as she arrived next to him, getting surprisingly serious as he turned to look at the half-elf.  
"What happened to your face?" Ameria questioned, raising her eyebrows as she handed a sword to him.  
"Wait what do you mean, do i have something on it?" Kíli immediately panicked, his free hand starting to roam around it.  
"It doesn't have that stupid grin on it anymore so i got worried," she smirked as Kíli frowned immediately upon hearing the answer, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of strong reaction.  
But seeing the disappointed face of Ameria, Kíli gave up. It wasn't his fault that he find it cute when her eyes seemed to get more irresistible or that her nose twiched ever so slightly when she got upset.  
"I thought you were gonna say it has handsome all over it," he just mumbled, but grinned a bit when he saw her ears perk up excitedly.  
"Maybe in your dreams....handsome," she playfully chirped before picking up the axe, examining it up close this time and smiling a bit, "For something this deadly, the axe sure does look beautiful."   
"Admire it later, tree-miner we have training to do!"  
"Fine fine don't be so hasty."

....

"You know i take it back, we don't have to duel today," Kíli huffed, sweating like crazy as he was laying on the ground in a starfish position.  
"Just say you're scared," Ameria scoffed back, as she dropped next to the dwarf, also sweating like there was not tomorrow.  
Kíli lifted his head up a bit to look at the half-elf, seemingly offended but then he snorted and hit the girl on the shoulder lightly,   
"That's what you wish."  
The pair looked at each other, still lying on the floor as they breathed heavily, Ameria's curious eyes focused on his lips, making Kíli turn red before turning away from her.  
"If you keep staring at me like that i might die," he muttered, refusing to look at her anymore.  
"Oh shut your piehole and get up, Prince it's time to duel," Ameria grinned and slowly gathered herself up from the floor, offering her hand to help Kíli up as well.  
He smirked and grabbed her hand, noticing how small they were but deciding not to 'mine a volcano' as she previously warned him.  
He thanked her and walked to the other side of the pit, getting the sword ready immediately, noticing that the half-elf did the same thing but only with an axe.  
"And we won't kill each other now alright? I have much more to do before i kick the bucket," Ameria yelled sharply, mentally preparing herself to fight as she tightened her grip on the weapon.  
"Bring it on sweet cheeks," Kíli smirked as he took a fighting stance before the pair charged forward, letting their weapons clash.

.....

Ameria has never felt so alive as she was dodging Kíli's attacks another after another.   
The fight felt like a choreographed dance between them, never rehearsed before but both of them being in an harmony with one another.  
The blades clashed again, creating sparks in the air.   
Kíli swung his sword violently, aiming for her hand to disarm the opponent quickly but Ameria dodged it, jumping back but then seeing an opening and deciding to do a handspring, kicking Kíli straight in the jaw, making him stumble backwards.  
"Mean kick you got there," He mumbled as he massaged his jaw a bit, creating a momentary breather for them before charging again, this time pushing the sword closer to her as she tried to dodge it with her axe.  
"Fight more talk less," She sneered back at the dwarf.  
Ameria felt his breath on her as they faced each other, gritting their teeth, inches away.   
Kíli’s intense stare could have burned her at that moment, not a single drop of hesitation were shown in his expression as they struggled to get to the winning position.  
And just like that Ameria pushed the dwarf back, ready to srike again as she swinged her axe but Kíli sidestepped as it swung inches from him and before Ameria could respond with a follow-up, he punched her into the stomach knocking the breath out of the half-elf.  
Ameria dropped her axe as she tried to breathe for air, letting out a painful wheeze as she hold her stomach.  
"Shit, are you okay? I'm sorry-" Kíli rushed next to her, immediately getting worried, feeling bad about punching her too hard.  
But when he was close enough, Ameria instead tackled him into the ground as Kíli wrapped his arms around him by reflex.  
They struggled for a minute or two, wrestling on the floor until Kíli got the upper hand and pinned his opponent down, holding her wrists as she tried to break free.  
"You're dirty liar," he whispered, out of breath as well, gripping her wrists even harder as he leaned closer to her face.  
"And what you're gonna do about it," Ameria breathed out, feeling the intense tension between them and honestly, it was intoxicating to say at least.  
Kíli smirked and got inches away from her ear, his breath tickling it before whispering, "You would love to find that out."  
Before Ameria could answer, Kíli suddenly jerked back, scrambling himself up as a group of dwarves started to gather to the training hall, a curiosity glowing on their faces.  
Ameria got up as well, trying to regonize the dwarves. They looked like warriors, tired but still held themself up well.  
"Kili we didn't interrupt anything did we now?" A familiar face of Fíli popped up behind the dwarves as he was grinning playfully at his brother, "Time is up we can come back to train now right?"  
Kíli crossed his arms and shaked his head,   
"Not at all brother dearest. We were just about to leave right?" He turned to look at Ameria and she nodded, quickly hopping behind him to get safe from the staring.  
Fíli just chuckled as the dwarves got back to their own business, leaving the trio to talk.  
"Well? How did training go with him, Ameria?" Fíli questioned, turning his attention to her, clearly wanting to hear the possible embarrassing things his brother did.  
"It was good, he's a skilled fighter," Ameria simply answered, still hiding behind the dwarf, not noticing the proud smile Kíli put on his face as he heard her speak.  
Fíli raised his eyebrows in a surprised matter and nodded as Kíli started coughing to get the attention back to him, "We really need to go now though right Ameria?"  
She just nodded, giving a small bow to Fíli before quickly following Kíli out of the training halls who was already heading out, not bothering to wait for the half-elf much longer.  
"Thank you for the compliment," he muttered, not looking at the girl as he walked forward, still holding the same proud smile on his face.  
"It's just the truth," Ameria dismissively said but then opening her mouth to speak again as she caught up to him, "Let's train again soon okay? I actually had fun."  
Kíli looked at her with an side-eye, seeing the hopeful expression and feeling his cheeks get more warm again as he answered,  
"Absolutely."


	4. Chapter 4

”I don't think this was the agreement," Ameria raised her eyebrows as she was standing infront of her door, looking directly at Kíli who was grinning like there was no tomorrow.  
"What did we agree on?" He questioned, clearly knowing what she meant but still mockingly pretending not to get it.  
"Sorry but i think you can go gather firewood by yourself," she muttered, ready to turn away from him just to be stopped as she saw him popping up some strawberries from his pocket.  
"But it's so boriiiing and i got you some sweets if you say yes," Kíli snickered, noticing that the half-elf was practically drooling over the berries, already knowing the answer.  
"And thus i have been bribed into this," Ameria sighed as she signed the dwarf to give her the strawberries. Immediately.  
She wasn't gonna risk him tricking her into something without a proper bribe and she surely wasn't gonna pass on an opportunity to get strawberries.  
Kíli laughed, clearly loving this before he slapped his hands together excitedly, ready to leave immediately.  
"Alright let's go!"  
Before Ameria had any time to retort Kíli snatched her hand to his and started heading out as the half-elf was practically being dragged behind him.  
"It's not like i have a choice anymore," she muttered seemingly annoyed but still hiding a small smile from the dwarf, not wanting to let him see that she was actually happy to get sucked into his shenanigans.  
Sighing she let the prince lead them to wherever he wanted as she was looking at the ceiling of the dark halls. How majestetic.  
Not paying attention to what was happening infront of her, Ameria bodyslammed into Kíli’s back as the dwarf made a sudden stop so he wouldn't bump into someone.  
"Hey what's-" She started to complain but immediately swallowing the rest of the sentence, creating a dead silence around them.  
"Lass, watch where you're going alright i could have dropped something,"  
A familiar dwarf grumbled at the pair, eyeing them up and down as Kíli awkwardly kept apologizing to him over and over again.  
"Dwalin!" Ameria exclaimed, truthfully happy to see her previous savior again but quickly slapping a hand on her mouth as she realized that she, infact, haven't introduced herself to him yet.  
"Yes that's me," Dwalin answered simply, the same frown on his face before he continued, "And who are you lass?"  
Ameria internally screamed, barely able to hold her excitement in as the older dwarf was looking at her.  
"Ameria, daughter of Rorlum....at your service," she answered quickly as Kíli was snickering beside her, noticing her nervous mannerism.  
Dwalin ignored the prince and bowed a bit to the half-elf, trying to be polite as possible so he wouldn't possibly scare the young one.  
"Pleased to make your acquaintance."  
The half-elf just laughed awkwardly, nodding her head as a response.  
Kíli coughed, not enjoying the sudden obstacle to their firewood mission.  
"Anyway sorry Dwalin, i promise we'll watch where we’re headed next time," he hummed, trying to make clear that they needed to get going, despite the displeased sound Ameria let out immediately.  
"I heard the wildlife is getting restless nowadays. Be wary when you go there," Dwalin scoffed, clearly meaning the last part towards Kíli as he avoided eyecontact with the warrior not wanting to face the fierce stare again.  
"We'll be. Thank you for the warning Dwalin," Ameria chirped in, smiling warmly at him as Kíli was already pushing her away from the scene.  
Dwalin watched as the pair made their leave, shaking his head and soon continuing whatever he was doing in the first place but not without a bit of worry in his mind about them.

......

Ameria was frowning, still bitter about the fact that Kíli dragged her away from Dwalin.  
"Are you giving me the cold shoulder?" He whined as he poked the half-elf who started to look like Dwalin according to her facial expression at the moment.  
"Cold elbow sounds more like what i'm thinking right now," she muttered as she finally met his eyes and a playful look crossed her face.  
"That's just cruel Ameria," he cheekily grinned, a sigh of relief leaving from his mouth as he saw her expression.  
"it's justified," she huffed back as they began to get close to the hall doors, "I'm still not sure why you want me to go with you but if it makes you happy i guess i can suffer through this.”  
Kíli just chuckled in response, nodding a bit as he turned to look away from the half-elf, "It indeed does."  
Ameria hummed an unknown answer to him, seemingly in a better mood before a guard stopped them, demanding to know where they're headed.  
"Right i forgot i'm not invisible anymore because of that ray of literal sunshine beside me," she thought, deciding to let Kíli speak to them since they very likely were more familiar to him.  
"Ah me and my companion here are going to get some firewood for my uncle," Kíli explained quickly, visibly making the guard more relaxed as he nodded his head, failing to notice Ameria's utter shock of a reaction.  
"I think you forgot to mention that the literal KING sent you to this thing," she hissed at the prince, getting an inch away from his face as he awkwardly smiled at the furious half-elf.  
"Oh did i? It's not a big deal," Kíli laughed dismissively as he hopped forward, not waiting for Ameria who stood in the same spot, dumbfounded.  
She soon followed the laid-back dwarf, getting absolutely lost at her words as she tried to form somekind of counterargument just to be left speechless again.  
"I swear you'll be the death of me someday..." Ameria mumbled as she caught up to him, elbowing Kíli to his side lightly since he started to laugh wholeheartedly, the sound echoing around them.  
It sounded so free and carefree, as if his joy was overflowing from deep within.  
Ameria couldn't recall anyone laughing like this with her and it was enough to make her feel butterflies in her stomach.  
Shrugging the feeling off she turned to look at the nature before them, letting her eyes to wander over it until she spotted a couple dwarves sitting beneath the tree, seemingly enjoying a break from the work.  
Kíli noticed the couple too, his expression lighting up even more as he turned to look at Ameria who was still watching them, lost in her thought. How her lips were pursed together as she was trying to regonize them and how her ears twitched everytime the wind touched them.  
He just really wanted to touch her ears, they looked so fascinating as his fingers were itching towards them but then he quickly looked away when Ameria turned to him.  
"Are we ready to go yet?" She asked as Kíli pretended to look the other way, his cheeks turning red from the scare.  
"Yeah yeah let's go that way," He pointed to the forest as in he would know where there was the most firewood, when he infact, didn't know.  
"I hope this is a right way...oh well what bad could possibly happen," he thought but soon forgetting his worries as he saw Ameria smiling at him excitedly.  
"Do you know them for any chance?" She continued, nodding her head towards the dwarves and Kíli hummed in response.  
"I think the other one is Bofur....Toymaker, i know his cousin better. He used to make toys for me and Fíli when we were younger," He started and then squinted his eyes in attempt to look at the other one better, "And that's Rían....she's a minstrel. Her songs are quite widely known among the dwarves.”  
Ameria just let a quiet 'oh' as she turned to look at them again.  
"I would love to hear her singing someday," she muttered, partly to herself but Kíli made a mental note for that, already thinking of a way to make that happen.  
"We need to haste, i don't want to be in the forest when it gets dark," Ameria suddenly continued as in she just realized they actually had something to do.  
"Oh right! Let's go!"

....

"Ouch-!"  
Kíli waved his hand violently, trying to shake off the nasty feeling off from his finger.  
"What did you do?" Ameria sighed without turning to look at him, continuing to gather the wood, not really paying attention to anything.  
"Just got a splinter from a stick," he mumbled, massaging his index finger while pouting.  
The half-elf didn't answer anymore and a comfortable silence fell over them the only sound around was their footsteps and the birds in the trees.  
Kíli turned to look at her, clearly about to say something but ultimately deciding to stay quiet. Afterall they don't actually know each other that well.  
He had to admit he heard rumors about her being a fellow with two clans but he didn't really bear thinking about it until he actually had an encounter with said half-elf.  
But in his opinion she didn't seem that bad, just somewhat odd individual with a sharp tongue.  
"Are you listening to me?" Ameria snapped her fingers infront of his face, breaking him out of his thoughts, "What were you thinking so passionately?"  
Her curious eyes shined as she waited patiently for the dwarf to answer but he shaked his head and shrugged it off.  
"Nothing important...Did you get the firewood?" Kíli dismissively answered, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible.  
Ameria raised her eyebrows at him but nodded before grinning proudly, "I got 'em right here!"  
The dwarf sighed in relief and looked around,  
"Let's get back....i hate to admit it but the forest is making me quite nervous right now," he started but Ameria stopped him.  
"You think so too? The birds got deadly quiet a moment ago and i was sure i've just gone over the mountain," she shushed him and Kili listened the surroundings, noticing that the half-elf wasn't wrong.  
It was uneasy silence, not the comforting kind which makes a soul calm down but a silence which grabs a heart and makes it heavy as in there was danger lingering just above, hidden until it was too late.  
"We should get out of here-" Ameria started but a raspy groan like noise from behind interrupted her. She saw Kíli’s widened eyes as he looked straight past her, loss at words.  
And in that moment she remembered that they didn't have any good weapons with them, only knives and seemingly Kíli realized that too as he tried to reach for his pocket but froze immediately.  
"Kill them!" The voice cried out, making Ameria shiver from all around and before she could react Kíli grabbed her hand and bolted.  
The pair were speeding through the forest, Kíli leading the way as Ameria glanced back seeing their chasers.  
Goblins.  
They were unusually large, horrific creatures with yellowish lumpy skin but with an surprisingly strong armour and weapons.  
Ameria shivered again, this time from the sheer disgust as she turned her attention to escape again as the dwarf lead them closer to the mountains.  
"They won't find us here!!" Kíli yelled as he pushed Ameria into a tiny rift on a mountain, immediately diving behind her, closing the half-elf into an shielding embrace.  
Ameria shut her eyes tightly, feeling Kíli’s rapid heartbeat, focusing on the feeling of him around her in order to calm down.  
The dwarf squeezed the girl closer to him, noticing that she was shaking and he couldn't blame her. He looked around trying to see if they could go anywhere but there was no way out.  
The noises grew louder every second and so he closed his eyes as well, preparing for the worst.  
Ameria wrapped her arms around him as well as the sudden sound of a battle started outside, scaring the both of them.  
"What's happening outside?" She whispered as Kíli’s breath got heavier as in he was sighing in a relief.  
"Let's wait before we go look into that," he simply answered back, burying his face into her shoulder which Ameria didn't mind. She understood he must have been feeling overwhelmed so instead of saying anything snarky in her usual manner, she ran her fingers through his hair, reassuring that they were gonna be fine.  
He mouthed a silent thank you and they stayed just like that for a moment, listening the sound of battle until a final cry of pain filled the air and the nature got silent again.  
"Shall we look?"  
"Yeah..."

....

"What the hell happened here...?" Ameria muttered in an utter shock.  
The view wasn't pretty as the previous attackers now lied lifeless infront of them, completely mutilated.  
Kíli looked around and shivered, clearly just wanting to leave the scene as quickly as possible, fearing that the danger still wasn't over.  
Ameria instead walked over to one of the corpses, examining it and soon felt sick to her stomach.  
"It was a beast some sort, no common animal can do such a damage like this," she said, coming back to her safe bubble beside Kíli.  
"We need to go tell my uncle about this immediately," he mumbled back, waiting for the half-elf to get over the disgust and horror she was seeing.  
Ameria shaked her head quickly and met his eyes with a hint of worry, "You think this is the thing Dwalin told us to be wary about?" She managed to blurt out, barely loud enough for Kíli to hear.  
He just nodded his head in response and reached his hand to her shoulder in an attempt to get her to move.  
"Let's just leave....quickly."


	5. Chapter 5

As Thorin listened Kíli, explaining their encounter with the goblins, a flash of concern appeared on his stoic face.  
There hasn't been any sightings of goblins since forever and hearing about them suddenly appearing again was troubling.  
"Dwalin send the scouts to the west, if there were goblins it's not unlikely to find more of them." The king immediately ordered, desperately wanting to get rid of the problem before it has even fully began.  
Dwalin bowed a bit without saying anything and excused himself quickly, rushing out of the hall to get the warriors ready but stopped for a hot second when he noticed Ameria leaning against one of the pillars.  
He sighed and walked towards the clearly spooked half-elf and stood before her.  
"Lass i heard you were with the prince when the goblins came, glad to see you're alive,"  
Upon hearing him speak Ameria yelped, still on edge and quickly bowed to the warrior in a panic.  
"Thank you for the worry i'm fine," she blurted out, refusing to meet his eyes as she kept her face down.  
The images of the horrific scene replayed on her mind, creating an on going loop of the adrenaline rush and the feeling of fear, which was utterly visible from her body language.  
Dwalin just raised his eyebrows slightly and shaked his head, "Those images won't leave your mind alone, Lass. But you can ease up now and let us warriors assure every dwarves safety."  
Ameria answered with a small thank you and Dwalin patted her on the shoulder before continuing his way, leaving the half-elf alone again.  
She sighed and a sudden feeling of forgetting something hit her.  
Her hand immediately went to her pocket where she always kept the dagger her father gave her, just to feel nothing on it's usual place.  
'Oh no oh no no no no,' she whimpered, starting to pat everywhere around herself,  
'This can't be happening!'  
That dagger meant everything to her which she swore to take care of and now it was gone just like that.  
The sound of soft footsteps interrupted her thoughts and she looked up, seeing Kíli approaching her in a thoughtful manner.  
"So? What happened?" Ameria questioned immediately, deciding not to mention about her dagger to him.  
"Uncle said he'll take care of this and we should not be worried about this anymore," he dismissively said as if he was already okay with everything that happened or that their newly found friendship didn't take any extra steps.  
Ameria frowned at his attitude but bit her tongue, not saying anything about it yet, maybe he was affected but just wasn't willing to show it.  
"Well glad to know that nothing major happened at all then, shall we train tomorrow again?" She blurted out, crossing her arms and impatiently tapping her foot on the floor.  
Slightly taken back by the sudden bluntness Kíli just nodded his head and massaged his neck, "...Yeah sounds good."  
The pair stared at each other for a second, neither of them wanting to strike up a conversation about the previous happening in fear of seeming weak infront of the other.  
Ameria sighed, giving up as she looked away from the dwarf, a visible disappointment showing on her expression.  
"Later Kíli, I think my parents are worried about me already so i should head home," she muttered and started to walk away from him, wanting to be anywhere else but here.

....

Kíli stood in the spot for a moment, watching as the half-elf walked down to the hall, clearly heading towards the hall with the underground waterfall.   
He thought for a second, realizing that the homesteads wasn't in that direction.  
'"That's weird..." Kíli mumbled before shrugging it off, not bearing his mind more about it for now since he was absolutely starving.  
Quickly he made his way towards the dining hall, still catching the last clange of the direction where Ameria went.  
"No no she's fine," he muttered to himself, not noticing Fíli coming next to him with a curious glow in his eyes.  
"Who's fine?"  
"Mahal-!" Kíli yelped, jumping back from his brother clearly spooked which made the older dwarf snort in amusement.  
"Oh brother that jump, you should have seen yourself just now!" Fíli snickered but soon got into more serious tone, "What are you worried about?"  
The younger sibling sighed and shaked his head, not wanting to be a purden, "It's nothing brother, don't bear your mind with it."  
Fíli hummed in response, obviously not buying the excuse but shrugged it off, not wanting to press the answer out of him.  
"Well if you're certain," he worded, thinking for a second and then adding, "Uncle wanted to see me for some reason, i will see you later okay? Don't get into too much trouble brother."  
Kíli just waved as Fíli rushed towards the King's hall and continued his way, his thoughts interrupting him constantly.  
He couldn't forget the feeling of when he held the half-elf in his arms as she was trembling and how his only thought was to protect her no matter the cost.  
How she accepted the closeness and the feeling of comfort when she brushed her fingers through his hair.  
'What stop thinking about that!' Kíli yelled internally, shivering as he arrived at the dining hall. This was not the time to think about things like that.  
"Now now what could i possibly eat...."

....

Kíli patted his stomach with a joyful smile on his face, feeling already better after getting some food into his system.  
He looked around the dining hall, seeing the dwarves enjoying their day, not knowing about the problems outside, singing merry songs and just having a good time in general.  
"I wonder how it-" Kíli started to think but stopped himself immediately, cursing in his mind. Not happening.  
He slapped his cheeks to get the thoughts out of his head, unable to notice some curious looks from the dwarves.  
"Care to join in for some dancing, prince?" The minstrel suddenly asked, standing infront of him with a warm smile on her face.  
Kíli turned to look at her with a tired grin and nodded, "Count me in."  
The minstrel chuckled and took his by the arm, pulling him on the dancefloor with the other dwarves who cheered as they saw him enter.  
Kíli looked around him, regonizing Bofur who was already dancing with the minstrel Rían as everyone else followed their example, dancing like there was no tomorrow while the band played the upbeat music.  
"Lass, dance with us will ya?" Bofur yelled at him, grinning cheekily, waiting for Kíli to come to them.  
The prince happily obligated, joining them at first, laughing and chatting but soon noticing that he was missing someone.   
He missed her company.  
"i'm sorry but i have to go find someone," Kíli practically yelled, excusing himself out of the situation, immediately heading towards the underground waterfall.  
Bofur looked at Rían with side-eye as she chuckled at the rushing dwarf, "It's the half-elf we saw earlier right?"   
Rían nodded and turned to look at the dwarf, smiling playfully, "You know it."

...

Kíli ran to the hall, panting as he looked around him, hoping to see the half-elf somewhere.  
Walking closer to the bridge before the waterfall he noticed the small figure sitting on the edge, admiring the water beneath her.  
He slowly approached her, his footsteps echoing, catching her attention.   
Instead of turning to greet him, she continued to look at the water, deep in her thoughts.  
The beautiful hue of blue and green reflected all the way to the top of the hall, creating a painting of the lake all over. It was comforting and calming to say at least.   
Kíli was standing right beside her now, sighing before crossing his arms and starting the conversation, "You shouldn't sit on the edge like that. It would be a long fall to the water."  
Ameria let out an amused breath and shaked her head, "Isn't that the best part of it?"  
He slowly sat next to the girl, stealing a glance or two of her before speaking again, "Say Ameria....are you really okay?"  
The half-elf visibly got tense for a second before sighing and finally meeting his eyes as she pondered if she should be honest with him or not.  
But as she saw his soft expression she gulped and opened her mouth, finally speaking up  
"I have never seen goblins before. I read about them from the books but...this was the first time i was in actual danger."  
Kíli stared at her for a moment, letting her continue, "I'm weak as a goblin's heart aren't i," she whispered, looking down again.  
"I was scared too you know, but i don't think fear makes you weak," he simply answered, scooting closer to the half-elf, trying to comfort her silently.  
Ameria smiled a bit as she elbowed the dwarf softly to his side, "You're too kind Kíli."  
He chuckled quietly and shaked his head, "It will be the death of me."  
The pair laughed at his statement before a comforting silence fell over them.   
Stealing a glance of the dwarf Ameria scooted right next to him, putting her head on his shoulder as she whispered a quiet thank you to him.  
Kíli lowered his head on top of her and closed his eyes, enjoying the company and the sound of her breathing as the time seemed to stop around them. There were just the two of them.  
"Okay you know what, i want to jump," Ameria suddenly spoke up, breaking the moment.  
"Jump? But you'll scare the fishes," Kíli blurted out as he was pointing towards the water beneath them, not having any of her crazy ideas.  
"If you're scared just say so," She teased as she got up, peeking down to see if it was safe to leap.  
"This is a scheme but i don't care. Let's jump then!" Kíli bragged, hopping up fast as lightning, already regretting his decision but it was too late now.  
Ameria looked at the dwarf with a playful smile before she backed out and then leaped forward while cheering loudly.   
Kíli cursed to himself a bit as he followed the half-elf seconds later, immediately starting to think why he just did what he did, the air racing through his whole body, creating somekind of weightless feeling. He saw Ameria hit the water with a huge splash beneath him, soon getting back above the water, laughing heartily.  
Kíli smiled and closed his eyes as he made impact with the water, sinking under it with an ease.  
Feeling a tap on his shoulder he opened his eyes again, seeing that Ameria also dived as he hit the water but now was smiling at him with a stupid grin and puffed cheeks from holding her breath.  
He opened his mouth to laugh but then realized that he was underwater and quickly swam above the water, gasping for air as he was still laughing.  
Ameria watched him with a grin and let out a laugh, snorting in between as she was trying to keep swimming, making Kíli laugh even more resulting him to accidentally swallow some of the water.  
"Please don't die, prince," Ameria snickered as she swam closer to the dwarf, splashing him.  
"Conflicted about that truth to be told," Kíli coughed out, dodging the water as he did a counterattack, creating a splashing war between the pair.  
"Okay okay you win, stop trying to drown me," Ameria cried out moments later, swimming to the shore, her clothes soaking wet, "You know maybe i should've thought this through before jumping."  
Kíli climbed next to her to the shore, ruffling his wet hair as he laughed, "Did you go over the mountain again? Doing things without thinking is the most fun part of everything!"   
The half-elf shot a playful look to the dwarf and smirked before standing up, "I guess you're right."  
Following the example, Kíli stood up, staring at the girl with a small smile.   
"Hey i know this might not be the best time but...you wouldn't want to spend time with me, like other than in training too?" He blurted out without thinking much of it but soon seeing a visible blush on her cheeks.  
"I'll consider it," Ameria teased but nodded slightly in a shy matter, twirling her fingers just for Kíli to flick her forehead to get her attention fully, starting to walk towards the homesteads,  
”I’m so happy Ameria!”  
She smiled back at him, hopping next to the dwarf before shaking her head,  
”Me too Kíli.”


	6. Chapter 6

Ameria watched as her father Rorlum was sharpening his axe, humming excitedly.  
Just couple of days earlier Dwalin's scouts found a goblin camp, northeast from the Thorin's hall and the King was determinded to eradicate the problem immediately with an assault, planning to destroy everything and slain every goblin.  
So of course, Rorlum being a well known warrior got asked to be on this mission with the others to which he gladly said yes.  
"It has been a long time since i got the opportunity to cut some goblin heads!" He roared, laughing with voice full of determination as if he has been waiting for this to happen.  
"Don't you think we shouls find out why the goblins are here in the first place though? We should look into that first or we'll be in a worse trouble," Ameria questioned, her mind still buzzing from the past days, it going back and forth from Kíli to the goblins and the dagger that she lost.  
Her father raised an eyebrow and shaked his head, "I trust my Kings judgement and you should too Ameria. There's no need to worry i assure you."  
The half-elf hummed in response, fiddling her fingers as she watched outside the window, clearly not buying the quick assault technique.   
She had an uneasy lingering feeling of something bad happening soon but she just wasn't sure what was it and the incoming battle didn't make her feel any better.  
Rorlum sighed and put his axe down carefully before sitting beside his daughter. He hated seeing her like this.  
"Listen laddie, i know things have been kinda like giant's wedding lately but the water'll find it's own way down so you shouldn't bear your mind too much into it," he tried to calm her down as he took her hands into his, soothing the half-elf as she smiled a bit.  
"Thank you father, i don't know what i would do without you," she muttered, glad that she had such a supportive person in her life who could make her feel like everything was going to be okay despite everything.  
Rorlum chuckled and shaked his head before ruffling Ameria's hair, "Shucks your beard is longer than your years."  
"I don't have a beard," Ameria deadpanned, not having any of her father's weird dwarf sayings.  
"Or maybe it's just growing inside," He chuckled as he stroked his beard, trying to think of ways to get her mind off of the bad things when he suddenly clapped his hands together, "How about one match of sparring before i take my leave?"  
Ameria's ears perked up and she smiled devilishly, she could never turn down a sparring with her father.   
It has always been a great way to test how far she has come with her training, so instead of saying anything Ameria shot up from the chair and moved the furniture away from the room.  
"Always moving with such haste i see," Rorlum laughed and helped her with the furniture before getting his axe, checking it out once more, "Take my spare axe from the cabinet so it's gonna be a fair fight."  
"I don't think any of our fights have been a fair one since i was little." Ameria scoffed before taking the axe and quickly swinging it around to test how it feels.  
"Are ye ready laddie?" Rorlum asked as he tightened his grip on the axe, ready to attack immediately.  
The half-elf copied his stance and smiled, nodding slightly before charging in, starting the sparring.

....

"You've become stronger since last time," Rorlum smiled as he offered a hand to help Aneria up who just seconds earlier stumbled backwards and fell.  
"Well i have been training a lot lately," she breathed out as she took his hand and got pulled up from the floor.  
"With the prince huh?" He snickered, already knowing the answer but still wanting to see her reaction.  
"No-! Yes and don't you dare to talk about it," she stuttered, waving her hands around in denial as if that would make anything better.  
"As long as you don't overdo it," Her father hummed but then turned to her again,  
"But the bottom line is that i'm proud of you Ameria," Rorlum ruffled her hair with a cheeky grin, resulting on Ameria feeling emotional as she smiled back at him.  
"Thank you," she whispered but soon expression of worry took over her face, which her father noticed of course.  
"Ameria you're worrying your mind into a breaking point," a soft feminine voice suddenly spoke up and the pair quickly looked at the newcomer.  
"Sorry mother," she quickly answered and stepped aside as her mother went to greet Rorlum.  
"Sidhwen dear, i'm glad you're here to see me into the battle," Rorlum laughed as she smiled warmly at him, caressing his cheek.  
"Save that for when i'm away," Ameria's face schrunched in disgust and she quickly went to her own room, giving their parents some privacy.  
She flopped down beside the window, thinking about her parents.   
Their story always interested her, the way they met and how Rorlum saved her from the orcs beside her being an elf.  
It's not like they just immediately fell in love either, it was full of hardships and disagreements but eventually they just couldn't help it anymore.  
A sudden slam of the front door woke her up from her thoughts as she saw her father walk out, waving to her with a winning smile on his face. Ameria slowly waved back at him, wishing that everything was gonna go well for everyone.

...

Hours passed as nothing have been heard from the company and Ameria got restless of waiting in the house.  
So instead of doing that she put her cloak on and headed towards the main hall in desperate need of distraction.  
Upon arriving to the spot she noticed that the hall was seemingly more empty than normally, making the place hollow and haunting.  
Only a couple of dwarves were trading some goods and some were drinking ale at the corner, seemingly in a deep conversation.  
Ameria shivered and instead made her way towards the library in hopes for finding a good book to keep her entertained.   
The hallway was lit full of candles, a yellowish light covering the walls and the bookshelfs were full from top to bottom, creating an almost unspeakable atmosphere of peace and quiet.  
She looked around, her hand hovering over the books, not being able to decide which one to take.  
"I could recommend some fantasy novels if you want, they really suck you into the story," a soft voice spoke up beside her, making Ameria jump a bit before she turned to look at the woman.  
She looked beautiful to say at least, fierce intelligent and loyalty practically glowing from her as in she would take a person's whole soul as her friend, keeping it safe from the harm no matter what.  
"What are your recommendations then?" Ameria answered, a flash of a smile appearing on her face as the woman guided her through the shelves.  
"This is my personal favorite, it's the legend of Amarthiel the princess of North. She was a commander despite her father not approving it. My personal hero truth to be told," The woman excitedly explained, her eyes sparking of joy as she handed the book to Ameria as her mouth was forming a tiny 'o' before she smiled,  
"You mean the high-elf? I didn't know we had books about her in here....thank you!!"  
The woman nodded before opening her mouth to speak again, "I'm Noruí by the way, it's great to make your accquaintance."  
"Ameria, at your service," she answered, bowing slightly as the other did the same, both snickering a bit.  
"So formal...anyway if you ever need any help with books you can usually find me here," Noruí voiced out, flicking some of her hair out of her face, which resulted Ameria to see a big scar on the side of her face. It seemed old too, creating even more curiosity to the half-elf.  
She thought for a second to ask her about it but decided not to, incase it would insensitive towards her so instead she just grinned and nodded, "I will, thank you Noruí.”  
The shorter woman just waved at her as Ameria made her way towards the table, looking at the book cover with a curious eyes.  
She remembers how her mother used to tell her the tales of Amarthiel when she was young, but she didn't bear her mind with it that much. However the battle of Dagorlard always peeked her interest since seemingly the heroine just vanished, nobody knowing what happened to her.  
Ameria opened the book finally, immediately getting sucked into the book, her only focus on the pages now.   
'This is....she's amazing," she thought as she imagined how the battles really looked like and how she commanded the army with no fear.   
She didn't notice how much time has actually passed until Norui tapped her on the shoulder as a distant cheering began to echo through the halls.   
"The battle is over, they're back," Noruí smiled and Ameria shot up from the chair, the pair quickly making their way towards the main hall to greet the heroes.

...

The soldiers looked beaten down but victorious as they walked through the hall, going to their families with smiles on their faces, hugging their loved ones once they reached them.  
Cheers and upbeat music roared within the hall and Ameria tried to listen to their stories about the battle.   
She regonized some familiar faces such as Fíli and Kíli hugging each other tightly, cheering loudly and soon fading into the crowd of celebrating dwarves.  
Even Noruí left her side to celebrate with them, closing Fíli into an embrace which made Ameria raise her eyebrows, making a mental note to ask about that later.  
"-And there were an unholy amount of goblins," a voice yelled out, laughing heartily as the dwarf explained the battle to his family beside Ameria.   
Her brows furrowed as the music got louder so she couldn't hear the rest of it but it made her worried to say at least.  
She started to look around for her father, in hopes to see a familiar beard just for nothing and her panic grew stronger.  
Quickly Ameria made her way to the sidelines, leaning against the pillar, watching as the dwarves started to remember the fallen soldiers and celebrating for their memories and the victory.  
”Bring the ale quickly!!” Cheerful voices shouted among the crowd, as the barrels of ale was being carried so every dwarf could drink their pain and sorrow away.  
"Laddie," a familiar voice spoke up behind her and a glint of hope grew in her just for a second as she turned around just for her to feel like her heart just dropped into her stomach.  
Dwalin was now standing infront of her, holding a well-known axe in his hands as he looked straight into her eyes with an expression of regret.  
"That's my father's axe," Ameria mumbled as her eyes wandered to the axe over and over again as Dwalin handed the weapon to her.  
"I'm sorry...Cave-trolls took us upon surprise and he saved us by-" he started but then gulped as he saw Ameria's utter expression of numbness and unreality as if she was having a hard time of understanding what Dwalin was saying as she was holding the axe even tighter.  
Ameria let out a sharp breath, trying her hardest to comprehend the information she just got before she looked up to the warrior and opened her mouth to say something just for her voice to crack in the most heartbreaking way possible,  
"My father is dead?"


End file.
